Tanya Stanley

American Multiculturalism:  Social Contracts, Marked Minorities, and a Fusion of Immigrants and Minorities

Analyzing the immigrant narrative, the minority narrative, and the in-between narrative by applying the course objectives to the texts, the immigrant narrative becomes an essential model for classifying American multicultural literature.  Objectives one, two, and three encourage us to relate the immigrant narrative to the minority narrative and to the dominant culture in order to discuss race and ethnicity systematically and constructively.  Without a measurement, classifying multicultural literature would almost be an unbearable task.  Multicultural literature encompasses numerous facets from which to identify, to analyze, and to learn, and by using the seminar’s immigrant/minority distinction as a norm to classify multicultural literature, students can focus on how the distinct narratives diverge or overlap.

            The immigrant narrative as a crucial model of American multicultural literature becomes the benchmark to distinguish the minority narrative and the relationships to the dominant culture.  After reviewing my undergraduate midterm, I wanted to expand on Nicholasa Mohr’s immigrant narrative “The English Lesson” by describing the dominant culture’s social contract of learning the English language.  By learning English, Lali tries to assimilate into the dominant culture unlike her husband, Rudy.  Rudy feels no need for her or himself to learn English because the people who frequently visit his diner speak Spanish (21).  Unlike Rudy, Lali represents the immigrant narrative through her acceptance of the social contracts provided by the dominant culture.  Rudy refuses to learn English and has no desire to assimilate to the dominant culture.  Unlike Yezierska’s protagonist’s, Lali’s independence does not separate her from the dominant culture.  Lali may not have assimilated, but she is one-step closer to the process.  Walking to work on their last night of class, Lali and William become “oblivious to the scene they created for the people who stared and pointed at them as they continued on their way to Rudi” which suggests Lali is assimilating into the dominant culture but simultaneously not part of the dominant culture (34).  As marked, the scene Lali creates distinguishes her from the dominant culture, but by following one of the social contracts of the dominant culture and learning the language, Lali minimizes the oppression.  Lali’s private life opposes her public life.  At the diner and at home, Lali will probably use her native language in order to remain part of the Spanish community.  In public, Lali will have to speak English if she wants acceptance from the dominant culture.  Like the parents in Pat Mora’s poem “Immigrants,” Lali struggles to maintain an unmarked public life while keeping an unmarked private life.

Immigrants tell a story of finding their American Dream through their different experiences.   Objective two describes the dynamics, variations, and stages of the immigrant narrative.  In the undergraduate American Immigrant course, I discussed Anzia Yezierska’s immigrant narrative “Soap and Water” and focused on the stages of the immigrant that the protagonist experiences.  However, now I want to emphasize the importance of maintaining the social contract between the dominant culture and the immigrant, which leads to the assimilation process.  The protagonist desires to attend college in order to become a teacher (107).  As part of the American social contract, immigrants need to earn an education in order to assimilate into the dominant culture.  Yezierska’s immigrant protagonist comes to America alone desiring nothing but personal enrichment and economic success (107).  Through Yezierska’s immigrant narrative, the dominant culture introduces itself through the dialogue and actions of Dean Whiteside.  Whiteside oppresses the protagonist based on her appearance—her oily skin, her dirty hair, and neglected nails (105).  The American Dream becomes temporarily lost through the protagonist’s isolation from her college peers and administration and from fellow immigrants at the laundry (109).  The protagonist’s isolation represents the constant minority experience; however, unlike the minority narrative, the immigrant narrative concludes with the protagonist’s American Dream being obtainable.  By accepting and fulfilling the social contract, the immigrant moves away from the separation of the dominant culture furthering her assimilation process.

            Experiencing Toni Cade Bambara’s minority narrative, “The Lesson,” reminded me of Sylvia’s hilarious responses and objections to her newfound babysitter, but I have learned that Sylvia does not desire to purchase the toys at F. A. O. Swartz, as I once believed.  As a minority, Sylvia’s private life is much like her public life.  Unlike the immigrant, the minority does not reach for the American Dream because the American Dream does not exist for her.  The immigrant’s American Dream is the minority’s American Nightmare, objective one of the course.  Sylvia and Rosie Giraffe think the dominant culture is crazy for spending ridiculous amounts of money—money that could “feed a family of six or seven”—on toys (Bambara 151).  One of Sylvia’s friends says “equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough,” but unfortunately this ideal does not apply to minorities (Bambara 151).  At the conclusion of the story, Sylvia tells her friend that she will race her to Hascombs, but she decides she will go to the West End and then to the Drive without letting her friend know (152).  Sylvia’s independence separates her from the dominant culture hindering the assimilation process, but Sylvia does not care.  Sylvia does not want to become part of the dominant culture even if the color code did not obstruct her entrance.  Sylvia enjoys being herself, and she lives her private life just as she lives her public life—exposed.  Sylvia remains marked and remains a minority, but unlike Yezierska’s protagonist—a young adult—Sylvia is a child who is aware of her role in society.  Sylvia does not express longing for assimilation, for acceptance by anyone, or anything inexplicitly written in America’s social contract.  Sylvia, like other minorities, does not feed on the American Dream ideal; Sylvia experiences and will continue to experience the American Nightmare.  Yezierska’s protagonist dreams of going to college at sixteen and keeps her dream alive until she enrolls in college and witnesses the oppression of the dominant culture (107).  I think Sylvia’s American Dream never existed; Sylvia always led the American Nightmare.

Like Bambara’s minority narrative, “The Lesson,” Alice Walker’s minority narrative “Elethia” brought back past experiences I had with the narrator.  Unlike Sylvia, Elethia experiences the dominant culture’s exploitation first-hand and violently.  Elethia discovers the statue of the African-American in the white’s only diner is actually a stuffed corpse—not a wax figurine like many believed (308).  As an undergraduate, I stated Elethia’s obsession was to learn why Uncle Albert was so famous, but looking further, I see Elethia’s desire to help the oppressed.  Elethia not only discovers that Uncle Albert’s corpse is on display at the restaurant, but she also learns many other corpses of minorities—Native Americans—are also on display at the museums (308).   Instead of Elethia allowing the dominant culture to oppress her without fighting back, she defies the dominant culture by removing Uncle Albert’s corpse from the diner (308).  Elethia remains marked by the dominant culture; Elethia experiences the totality of the oppression of American minorities.  Elethia begins to live her life “…looking over her shoulder at the slightest noise...” (308).  Elethia’s distance between herself and the dominant culture became an eye-opening experience to me.  After reading Octavia E. Butler’s novel Kindred, I realized the physical abuse the minorities suffered as slaves.  Unfortunately, the dominant culture Bamabara describes did not learn from history and continued to exploit African-Americans and Native Americans.  Exploitation and separation remain part of Elethia’s American Nightmare.  The immigrant narrative relates to the minority narrative by helping the reader recognize the differences between each work.  For minorities, the American Dream is the dream of immigrants, not the dream of people forced to come to America and suffer tyranny from the dominant culture. 

            Gary Soto’s narrative “Like Mexicans” represents an in-between narrative.  New World Immigrants usually assimilate to the dominant culture at a slower pace.  The narrator’s grandmother tells him to “marry a Mexican girl” (301).  The grandmother stays loyal to Mexico and her Mexican traditions, but the narrator marries a Japanese girl.  Intermarriage creates a link to the dominant culture.  If the narrator had married a Mexican like his grandmother suggested, his assimilation process may not have occurred as quickly.  The narrator represents an immigrant and the minority simultaneously.  As an immigrant, he accepts the social contract of going to college (304).  The narrator’s private life represents the life of a minority; he lives at home with his extended family.  Unacquainted with races other than the Mexican race, the narrator brings his grandmother a calendar representing the “important races of the world” (301).   Carolyn’s family appears assimilated to the dominant culture.  Her father wears khaki work clothes, her mother serves them “sandwiches, potato chips, and iced tea” and Carolyn drives a Plymouth (303).  The narrator and Carolyn seem to possess a fully-assimilated lifestyle, while the narrator’s grandmother remains accustomed to her traditions—the traditions of Mexico.  Soto’s representation represents the importance of immigrants fulfilling the dominant culture’s social contracts and becoming unmarked.  By intermarrying, the couple’s children and their grandchildren may experience assimilation without hesitation.

Last semester, I read Paule Marshall’s novel Brown Girl, Brownstones, and experienced Afro-Caribbeans’ experience through the eyes of a young woman.   Like Brown Girl, Brownstones, Marshall’s narrative “To Da-Duh, in Memoriam” embodies the immigrant narrative and the minority narrative.  Afro-Caribbeans experience the color code oppression because of their skin color.  Even though many of the Afro-Caribbeans do not stem from the enslaved African-Americans, the dominant culture labels them as an instant minority.  The narrator appears to accept the social contracts the dominant culture demands, but she still experiences oppression.  The narrator’s grandmother is saddened that her grandchildren are as dark as she is and wishes they could be lighter (369).    The grandmother marvels at the “incredibly tall royal palm which rose cleanly out of the grand, and drawing the eye up to it, soared high above the trees around it into the sky” (374).  However, the narrator cuts the palm with her assimilated response of saying New York has buildings “hundreds of times” that size (375).    Soto represents the immigrant narrative and the minority narrative as an in-between narrative.  The new world and the old world collide with one another in Soto’s narrative.

Social contracts of the dominant culture can either break the immigrant’s assimilation process or speed up the process; however, marked minorities do not have an opportunity to assimilate into the dominant culture because they cannot break away from the color code.  After reviewing the objectives, the texts, and my past midterm, I am able to see other perspectives of the immigrant narrative, the minority narrative, and the in-between narrative.  Without having the immigrant narrative as an essential model for classifying American multicultural literature, we would not be able to discuss race and ethnicity systematically and constructively.  Reading non-fiction, we can discuss the immigrant’s experience, the minority’s experience, and the in-between group’s experiences.  Since we are discussing fictitious characters, we can read from the text and focus on the literary aspects while learning about multicultural America.

Log on June 28, 2008 12:10 p.m.

Log off June 28, 2008 2:15 p.m.